Coquitlam Crunch Trail

This is a popular hiking trail in Coquitlam. It's known for being a challenging hike with great views of the city. The trail is 2.2 kilometers long and gains 242 meters in elevation. There are also two sets of stairs with a total of 894 steps, making it a great workout for hikers and fitness enthusiasts.

Here's a summary of what you can expect on the Coquitlam Crunch:

* Challenging hike with great views

* 2.2 kilometers long with an elevation gain of 242 meters

* 894 stairs in total

Overall, the Coquitlam Crunch is a great option for those looking for a challenging hike with beautiful views. Just be sure to wear good shoes and be prepared for the elevation gain.

The Coquitlam Crunch Trail is an intense yet rewarding experience. I regularly hike this trail with my daughter, and each journey strengthens our bond. The trail's challenging nature makes our time together even more meaningful. However, it's essential to choose the right time of day for your hike, as the trail offers limited shade and can get extremely hot. We find early mornings to be the best time to enjoy the trail and avoid the heat.

It was a great hike for Friday afternoon. Good views and great cardio. There were lots of berries, rosehip and birds in the area. I made a video of two birds chomping on fireweed.

The trail was amazing! Although parts of it had a gravel route, the stairs were excellent, with some areas in between for resting. Additionally, there is a good, clean washroom open to the public.

Crunch time! Nice urban exercise trail good for all fitness level! About 475 stairs in the middle but they are all little steps and well spaced out so fairly easy to do.

Trail continues above and below… about 5.8 k loop if you do a whole thing. Lots of parking at Runnel dr trail head or more along Lansdowne/Panorama dr. Multiple washrooms along the way are all clean and well maintained.

If you do a whole thing, it will be a relaxing walk while enjoying the view. The bottom part is great for little kids with play areas and stroller friendly. I tried to see how many laps of stairs I could squeeze in an hour, managed 6 and half but got quite tired with sore calves at the end.

My favourite workout! Very spacious and it’s fun to start the very bottom by the soccer fields and do the full loop for a 6km loop. I heard they are expanding the trail to the opposing side of the power lines and I look forward to checking it out. Easily accessible for all different types of fitness levels.

Nice hike with stairs marking the beginning of the hike. It was a good workout but hardly anything compared to Grouse Grind. It's still a bit steep and could get your heart racing, so carry some tangerines and electrolytes.
You end up crossing busy roads if you plan to go all the way to the top which wasn't great as it breaks your flow but still a nice elevation gain.

Great place to exercise your legs and take in fresh air. The most challenging part would be the stairs but after the stairs it is just a paved path. As you go higher, the views start to emerge itself. I can imagine just how beautiful it can get during sunrise and sunset. Fun fact, at the top of the stairs you are higher than the high rises! You can also see just how close the clouds are to the mountains on rainy days. Free parking and public washrooms are available.

went at 7pm ish and was able to see a very pretty sunset. not tons of people and lots of birds, great place to take kids as well

I do this hike almost daily, preferably 4 or 5 laps of the stair section near the starting point. If you want some sun, fresh air, and a good cardio workout you should definitely check it out!

We decided to try out the crunch.
We started at 7.30am and managed to do it*1.5.
The stairs while going upstairs were quite in the shade but it was hot and sunny on our way down.
It is a total of 450 steps each way.
Use the right one to go up and the one on the left to go down.
There are 2 parking lots that were available.
The view from the top was great and you feel a sense of accomplishment to make it.

Amazing place to get a quick hike in! 👌Would recommend during a sunny day and non rainy. Path is paved for the 2.8km and gravel for the rest of the 0.2km. Would recommend proper running shoes for this activity!

Great free workout with a beautiful view at the top of the stairs. There are 450+ steps going up and 450+ coming down.
Much easier than Grouse Grind and it is a great mini-hike for beginners.

Great quick hike up. Stairs are great with inspirational reminders.

The city of Coquitlam did an awsome job with this trail. The east Trail has just stairs for going up, the The west trail has stairs for going down but also a path right beside the stairs. There are washrooms half way up and I believe around 450 stairs to the top, the trail continues after the stairs end, best view about half way up, takes about half hour from bottom parking lot to the very top. Awsome hike💯💯

A very nice easy/moderate hike and walk that is located in Coquitlam in the Heart of the Tri Cities area.

There is plenty of parking located in a couple areas. You can park either at the very beginning just off of Runnel Dr. Either at the parking lot located right at the Eagle Ridge Playing Fields, or across the street on Runnel where the Tim Hortons is. A second parking lot that is located where the Lacross Box is off of Lansdowne Dr. I do believe there is approximately 60 parking spots. When School is in session the parking lot can be busy dropping kids off in the morning, and around 2:30 in the afternoon can be busy for 30-60 minutes as the parking lot is in the middle between the Elementary school and Middle School.

You can either just do the stairs section East side of the Stairs is for going up. And the West side stairs are for going down.

You can do the entire Coquitlam Crunch from either Runnel Dr. Parking area or from the Lacross Box parking lot off of Lansdowne Dr. From the Runnel parking lot the entire trip is close to Four Miles round trip up and back. I'm in fairly good shape ( 55 ) and I can do the entire thing in approximately 40-43 minutes. And that's with a 5min break break at the very top.

On the way up there's lots of signs with information on them about the Wildlife and so on. I won't post those pictures as that would defeat the purpose lol. The trail consists of gravel and wooden stairs and some paved sections.

There are two locations for washrooms 🚻 that are located at the beginning where the Eagle Ridge Playing Fields are. And the second washrooms 🚻 are located about halfway up to where the Church is.

Keep and eye open for lots of wildlife Birds 🐦 Deer 🦌 Yogi Bear 🐻 Foxes 🦊 Owls 🦉Coyotes and Raccoons 🦝

There's also a dog 🐕 park just past the halfway point.

I do this quite often as I live close by and also grew up in Port Moody ( Coranation Park area ). So I've been doing this WAAAAAY before the Crunch ever existed. As kids we use to use the entire area as short cuts to get to and from places and to each other's Houses growing up.

So enjoy the Crunch and enjoy the views and scenery and the Wildlife as well...

Great trail spot. Good veiws and cute encouraging messages on the stairs to read as you climb them. Only busy on weekends and events but other than that it is a very calm trail. Good exercise if you are in Coquitlam and the parking lot and washrooms there are a very new.

You CAN do this!

Just get out here and try it, take your time don’t worry about anything else. Take breaks as you need them. If you are going from a sedentary life style this will for sure be a huge shock to the body. Don’t let that get you down!!! Set a goal for your next attempt. For me a sweat and a chance to catch a tan is a win win. I do the CC in mid spring as a wake up call for how in shape I actually am. I try to set a goal after that of making it out at least once a week if not more. There are people of all shapes, sizes and abilities trekking up, it’s not intimidating in that respect.

You can start at the very bottom which is Runnel Dr or at the bottom of the stairs which is Guildford Way. Both have a parking lot and street parking.

Starting on Guildford which I normally do you will climb just over 450 steps at this point you can choose to either keep going on a lighter trail no stairs just steady incline that passes a Church, dog park, basketball , hockey and tennis courts, a school, track, baseball diamond, soccer field and nice grassy areas with wildflowers along the way. Or you can go down the stairs on the opposite side and do a couple rounds of stairs. Pre covid you could go up and down both sides. Currently to maintain social distancing it is a one way trail up the 450 steps and then down which is great. Some people bring their dogs and for the most part clean up after them. Decent views all around and sometimes a bear or two.

It does run under power lines and above a pipeline. The city is making the best use out of land that would otherwise be useless. Recently some improvements by the city have been made and include bathrooms right before the big stairway with WC accessibility which is great. Garbage cans that are bear proof and hands free just use your foot plus a basket on the side of cans to put your empty bottles so the don’t end up in the landfill. I am pretty sure more improvements are on the way.

If you're looking for an easy, beginner-friendly hiking trail in the Coquitlam area, the Coquitlam Crunch Trail is a great option. The 2 km trail is a mix of stairs, dirt, and gravel, but the views are worth it. Just be prepared for a bit of a workout!

If you’re looking to start your hiking journey in British Columbia or in Vancouver, this is the perfect starting trail. It has a decent incline, but is still very minimal, compared to some of the harder trails found in Vancouver and in British Columbia.